How many gels on a long run?

2 watchers

Wintee Apr 2012 12:52pm, 12 Apr 2012 43 posts	0 Wintee I'm currently in training for my first marathon and one of the things I still have left to figure out is how many gels I should be consuming. I've heard varying answers from people as to how much they take on board, and I know it's a personal thing but I thought it'd be a good idea to get a straw poll answer (can't believe there isn't a thread for this already). At the moment I think I'm taking on too little - two in an 18 miler, plus water. One of my friends swears by the rule of one at the start then nothing til one hour. Then one every half hour. I guess I could work this out based on my HRM/calorie count and the calories in the gels if I wanted to be scientific.
Puddington Apr 2012 12:55pm, 12 Apr 2012 47,044 posts	0 Puddington I think it depends on the brand. Some of them say loads in an hour which is madness to me. I would have one or two SiS caffeine gels on an 18 miler, plus water. I'll probably carry 3 for my marathon, having had some breakfast. Don't understand people who have one at the start of a race. I will probably have the first one at about 10/12 miles.
WobblingTime Apr 2012 12:58pm, 12 Apr 2012 918 posts	0 WobblingTime Ah, there was a thread about this earlier this week; http://www.fetcheveryone.com/viewtopic.php?id=49933
RunningInCircles Apr 2012 1:02pm, 12 Apr 2012 572 posts	0 RunningInCircles None. Horrible things
rf_fozzy Apr 2012 1:02pm, 12 Apr 2012 2,320 posts	0 rf_fozzy I'll be having one on my marathon at 7miles, then one every 5miles from then on in - i.e. 7, 12, 17, 22. I'll also carry an extra one in case. On a normal long run of 18miles, I'd probably only have one. In marathon training, I'd do what I was going to do in the marathon. On marathon day, have half a mars bar or something about 30-45mins beforehand (or banana, but they give me the sh!ts) to get an energy boost prior to race. I find the gels a bit sickly and too many make me feel a bit queezy.
Wintee Apr 2012 1:05pm, 12 Apr 2012 45 posts	0 Wintee Yeah it's the SiS ones I use. My plan for the marathon is to keep the caffeine ones til late on. I'm normally caffeine free but when I do take it, it has a tremendous effect on me - It's my running viagra.
DeeGee Apr 2012 1:09pm, 12 Apr 2012 11,574 posts	0 DeeGee First marathon I used gels in was Paris, and they had water stations every 5k, so I took one every 5k. I've stepped it down since then. Carried 5 with me (for some reason) plus a caffeine one in Hull and only used 2+1 in the end. Perhaps 1 an hour's fine for me. The manufacturers would have you taking two an hour if they're to be believed. Thats both impractical and undesirable. I usually neck a bottle of lucozade and a can of red bull in the two hours prior. On race day you'll be using stored glycogen for 2 hours or so, so basically the gels, once digested, are serving as an alternative, easily metabolised source of energy preventing your glycogen stors depleting too quickly. Therefore, on a 3 and a half hour marathon, as I do, 1 and a half hour's extra energy (ie 3 gels) is fine. Just take them before you need them, as they'll take time to be absorbed.
paul the builder Apr 2012 1:10pm, 12 Apr 2012 2,779 posts	0 paul the builder Don't try to calculate calories used up on a run, and then eat gels to compensate - first, you'll end up taking one every mile. Second, you don't need to 100% replenish calories as you run (or water either for that matter). It's perfectly OK to finish a run, a long run, and a race calories depleted and slightly dehydrated. And then recover afterwards. With water / fluid - drink to thirst. If you don't feel thirsty, you don't need to drink. (goes for training and racing) With gels / other food - you'll need to experiment. But as a start point 2 in 18m sounds fine (certainly no need to think about more). As you get more used to running long (in training), you'll need them less. And quite possibly not at all (that's for training). For racing - if you get on well with gels, then carry a few for the marathon.
Mrs Winkle Apr 2012 1:14pm, 12 Apr 2012 6,080 posts	0 Mrs Winkle I take a SIS Go Gel every 6 miles in a marathon, so for an 18 mile run I would take 2. I don't bother below 18, and often not even then during training runs. I just go by how I feel - though on race day, I do always stick with the every 6 miles as it's always worked for me. As for water - generally a sip or 2 every 30 minutes or so I suppose, I just drink when I feel I need to.
TripletDad Apr 2012 1:16pm, 12 Apr 2012 1,979 posts	0 TripletDad I use gels as a kind of ritual in a marathon to split the race into 5 mile chunks. I walk for about 30 secs and take a gel and some water (which I carry with me for just this reason) and use it to get closure on each 5 mile section and to move onto the next. It means that if I'm running well I can tick the previous section off and move onto the next, and if I've struggled in the last section I can write it off and start again. So really it's part of my marathon strategy and the taking of the gel itself is almost a by product of the main purpose which is to keep me on course for the best race I can have.